The Role of Patient Satisfaction and Pharmacy Performance: The Current Scenario in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: The main aim of the study is to inspect the impact of pharmacy services features and its association with the consumer satisfaction visiting community pharmacies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A descriptive analytical methodology was used, together with a quantitative approach based on a survey strategy. Riyadh’s whole population was represented in the research population. An online questionnaire was used to collect data. A suitable quota sample of 500 respondents was chosen, and 396 valid questionnaires were returned, providing a 79.2% effective response rate. Path analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. SPSS 21® version was utilized to perform descriptive and inferential statistical. Alpha value < .05 was deemed statistically meaningful. Results: Results of this study has shown that customer satisfaction is impacted by the type and quality of services offered by the community pharmacy, pharmacist attitude (C.R.=15.011, P<0.001) was found as the primary factor influencing patients as the key indicators of consumer satisfaction, followed by the medication teaching (C.R.=14.086, P<0.001), pharmacy location (C.R.=9.792, P<0.001), and service promptness (C.R.=5.337, P<0.001). In addition, the study establishes statistical evidence that patient satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on pharmacy performance (C.R.= 4.317, P<0.001). Conclusion: This study is exploring a very import aspect of the community pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia. hence filling up the gaps in the research and emphasizing the elements linked to the implications of consumer satisfaction for the pharmaceutical industry in Riyadh. It is also among the first to investigate the relationship between community pharmacy performance and patient satisfaction.